Mr. Speaker, it is an honour to rise in the House for my maiden speech, and I wish to begin by saying I rise with equal parts pride, equal parts trepidation and a little bit of childlike wonder. I hope all three of those continue in my career here in Parliament.
I want to begin by thanking several people who have been instrumental in getting me to this place. First, I want to start with my beautiful wife, Megan. Unfortunately, she is not here with me today, because she is serving a shift in the palliative care unit at St. Mike's Hospital right now, watching from the screens there. Without her help and support and her love and guidance, I would not be in this seat. I think all parliamentarians know this is a team sport, and their spouse is the number one fan on their team and number one contributor.
I like to say there is only one person who knocked on more doors than I did during the campaign, and that is my wife. In this campaign especially, she had to work extra hard doing that because she is pregnant right now. I have been learning as a new member that we have parliamentary privilege and immunities for what we say in the House. I was thinking about disclosing the gender of our future baby, but I think even those parliamentary privileges will not protect me if I do that without her permission.
I also want to thank my parents, David and Nan Mantle, who are watching at home this afternoon. They have taught me everything I know and instilled in me many, many things, but the most important thing they have instilled in me is to do the right thing, to do the fair thing, to do the just thing, to do the honest thing, even if it is going to cost me. This is my commitment to the House, to the members opposite and to my colleagues here in the Conservative Party, that I will do that.
I also want to thank all the communities of York—Durham for putting their trust in me: the people of Brock township; the people of Uxbridge, my hometown, whom I served on council with about 15 years ago; the people of Port Perry in Scugog township, where I spent summers in Caesarea on Lake Scugog learning how to wakeboard and ski; the people of Georgina, who welcomed me with open arms; and the people of Whitchurch-Stouffville, the parts that I know very well, playing baseball against Ballantrae and Vandorf.
Of course, I also want to thank two proud first nations in my communities: the Mississaugas of Scugog Island, whose chief I have not had a chance to meet yet, but I look forward to doing that soon; and the Chippewas of Georgina Island, who welcomed me to visit Georgina Island during the campaign.
I want to share a bit of that experience. As the member for New Tecumseth—Gwillimbury will know, as he has visited often, one cannot get there; one has to take a boat, a ferry. That ferry does not run on hopes and dreams; it does not run on unicorns or rainbows. It runs on diesel fuel, which was made more expensive by the carbon tax for years by the Liberal government. I join other hon. members here in demanding that the government refund that carbon tax to the first nation.
The people and the communities I mentioned are how I got here, but they are not the full answer for why I fought to be here and why the people of York—Durham have sent me here. I think there are at least three reasons. First, homes: The people sent me here because there is a sense among my generation that they will never get ahead, that no matter how hard they work, how much they save or how diligently they budget, they will never own a home. I will just say that again for my colleagues on the other side: no matter how diligently they budget. We are still waiting for that from the other side. The dream of home ownership slipping away is creating depression and dejection among my generation.
I want to share two stories about that. The first is from a working couple in Uxbridge whose door I knocked on. Both had well-paying jobs, and they had a young family. They said they were doing okay, but they are just scraping by. They did not know what else they could be doing. They both work full jobs and try to manage their family.
Second, I received a message just earlier this week from a fellow millennial who lives in Keswick. She is being evicted from her home and lamented to me that she has nowhere to go. She said to me that she should not have to leave the town she grew up in because we cannot get enough affordable homes built for someone like her, who earns a good salary. I agree.
The government's throne speech talks about building homes. It says that a new government agency will save us, that prefabricated and modular homes are the answer. I refuse to live in a shipping container. I refuse to live in a communist-style tenement built by Brookfield Homes. I demand, for my generation, the same opportunities that my parents had before me.
The second reason that I think people sent me here is crime, crime on our streets and in our neighbourhoods. People feel unsafe. My residents do not want to have to be told to park their car in the garage or purchase military-style bollards so that their car does not get stolen.
My residents want drugs and gangs off their streets. Just this week in Georgina, the York Regional Police busted a drug ring through Project Madruga. I want to thank the York Regional Police for their diligent work there in getting fentanyl, cocaine, meth, opioids and illegal firearms off the streets. The Speech from the Throne says that the government will bring forward a renewed focus on this issue by making bail harder to get. I hope it does, and we will be watching.
Third, the people sent me here because Canada is in economic decline. They are worried about our relationship with the United States and Canada's place in the world. The data on this is not really in dispute. Growth is anemic. Purchasing power is down. Canadians are poorer than they were before. The antidote, at least in my estimation, is pretty straightforward: It is to remove taxes, remove the laws and remove the regulations that stand in the way of Canadians making a better life for themselves.
On trade, this is something I hope to contribute to positively. It is something I know pretty well, having spent nearly 10 years practising international trade with some of the best in the business. On that note, I would like to thank my former partners, Matthew Kronby and Jesse Goldman at Osler, for teaching me everything I know. My offer to the government is this: I will be a resource. If government members want to know what we are thinking on these issues, let us talk.
Canada's place in the world has been diminished because our armed forces lack the tools they need. The government says that it will rebuild and rearm the Canadian forces, and I hope that is true, but we will see. My family has a proud military tradition. My grandfather served in the Royal Canadian Air Force, attached to the RAF as a navigator during the Second World War, including on D-Day.
That tradition has been continued by my brother, who is a current serving member. I want to share my experience visiting him on a public event at his base. Unfortunately, while all the people on that base were excellent professionals and well trained, the government has failed to equip them properly. As I walked into the hangar, water fell from the ceiling into a garbage can because the roof was leaking. As we waited for rides in a military aircraft, we had to wait longer because it broke down. Although the military was prepared, even the spare broke down. Lastly, rides in the military vehicle had to stop because it blew a gasket and spread oil all over the parking lot. The state of the tools that we give our men and women in the armed forces is unacceptable, and that is something I will continue to raise in the House.
I point these things out not just because we are in opposition but because we want things to get better. Our message is fundamentally hopeful. I am here because I am hopeful about Canada's future, and if the government moves to address these and other issues, they will have my support.
I will end by asking for wisdom from heaven for this place and for all members in the House, because it is wisdom from heaven that is, first of all, pure, then peace-loving, confident, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere. We are servants of the people, and no servant is greater than their master. No messenger is greater than the one who sent them. I pray that all members remember that in the House. God bless each member in the House, and God bless Canada.